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TITLE AND SUBJECT OF ARTICLE

Basketball and
Jesus

A
church sports program can be helpful in building Godly
character traits in the players.

church, sports,
basketball, Chrisitanity

Our church has an
organized basketball program managed and coached by Doug
White (not to be confused by our pastor who also has the
same name). Recently, I asked Doug why he was so
passionate about the sport of basketball, and what does
basketball have to do with Christianity. I thought his
philosophy may be helpful to others who desire to build
a church sports program. He expounded that organized
basketball can be a great Christian training ground.
Doug believed it starts with the right goal in mind:
building up believers for their Christian walk. Coach
White adheres to the following eight principles:

1. The program leader and coaches must remember the
program goal in every activity they undertake. The core
to a successful basketball program is conditioning and
fundamentals. Those are two things most kids will like
the least because they’re infected by television sports;
where the focus is on the individual player to look as
good as possible. By focusing on conditioning and
fundamentals, coaches can begin to wean their kids off
of the glory-seeking mentality inherent in today’s
professional sports and develop a TEAM.

2. Every
practice must begin and end with a prayer and those
prayers should be led by players as soon as possible.
The last 15 minutes of every practice should be a Bible
study lesson where the players MUST bring a lesson or
verse and be prepared to give its meaning and an
application to basketball or their daily lives. Every
player is required to have their Bible in hand and a
lesson written down inside.

3. The Bible study
lesson will be one of the most emotionally challenging
tasks the players will face. Not only do they have to
read and understand, but they also have to speak in
front of their peers. To demonstrate how simple the task
really is, Coach White will lead the first 2 or 3 by
turning to a chapter in Proverbs. Proverbs is an easy
book to use because it’s built around life lessons. The
challenges faced on the court boil down to challenges in
life: anger management, cooperation, physical
effort, pain, disappointment, and joy. The requirement
to have a lesson on a piece of paper can be answered
simply by writing a Proverb on a piece of paper with the
point the player is trying to make. Those without a
Bible or lesson earn a martyr (what the secular world
calls a “suicide”) for each infraction. The penalized
player will run while we prepare the lesson.

4.
Coaches need to remind their players that all the heavy
conditioning will be lifelong examples the players can
use when basketball becomes just a fond memory. Working
hard and hammering their bodies into fit vessels will
make their brains more alert and able to accomplish
seemingly impossible physical tasks for years into the
future. And if some of the players actually choose to
become missionaries, their physical training will form a
great basis to endure the hardships in third world
countries.

5. To successfully reach the primary
goal of improving our Christian walk, basketball games
become framed in the context of physical contests and
opportunities to demonstrate a Christ-like attitude.
Christian players do NOT challenge or complain about a
referee’s call. The Christian player appreciates the
referee’s difficult position of managing chaos and
understands the thankless job they’ve undertaken.
Complaining about a call, rolling their eyes, or
hot-dogging earns them an immediate spot on the bench
where they can see the cost to their teammates of their
absence.

6. The other team is not “the enemy”
but are brothers that challenge us. If the other team is
secular, then we become a team of witnesses of how Jesus
would behave and how He makes us different. The goal as
a Christian team is put out an effort level Jesus would
be pleased with, and an attitude that makes fans and
players both wonder how it can be in today’s world. As
Christians playing basketball, we should be victorious
whether we’re winning or losing the game.

7.
When the game is over, win or lose, the players must
understand that God is in control. God is a “details
kind of guy” who has numbered the cattle on a thousand
hills, so he knows exactly what went on during the game.
And He watches what happens AFTER the game. Win or lose,
the Christian team is the envy of every fan and every
coach because of how they behave AND how they play. As
the coach for a Christian team, you model that same
attitude. No team is ever “blown out” by your team, no
matter how poor their skills. Every team gets the same
level of respect you want for your team -- even if that
means you put a lid on your best players, denying them
the opportunity to score at will. We still play hard and
give our best effort, but we can always stop short of
running up the score.

8. The real measure of
success for the coach isn’t the won-loss record, but the
activities his players become involved in once
basketball is over. A successful coach will have
successful PEOPLE graduating from his program, and they,
in turn, can positively affect the people they come in
contact with as they go through life.

Coach
White's basketball link can be found at
www.ebiblechurch.net.

Basketball
Entertains Urban Residents

In some urban areas it is quite difficult
for children to find activities that will keep them out
of trouble. There are many organizations though that
focus on keeping kids in urban areas busy by allowing
them to play on basketball courts at their youth
centers. While this type of basketball will entertain
certain urban residents, it will also give parents a
fighting chance to raise children up the right way and
not have to worry about them ending up in jail one day.

In some
urban areas it is quite difficult for children to find
activities that will keep them out of trouble. There are
many organizations though that focus on keeping kids in
urban areas busy by allowing them to play on basketball
courts at their youth centers. While this type of
basketball will entertain certain urban residents, it
will also give parents a fighting chance to raise
children up the right way and not have to worry about
them ending up in jail one day.

Basketball games
can be organized in neighborhoods all around America
just to give children an outlet for their excess
energies. Basketball games are quite acceptable forms of
entertainment for children that have too much time on
their hands. Some parents do not arrive home from work
until well after dark, and the children choose to play
basketball with their friends because the games are out
in the open and give the kids a good opportunity to stay
out of trouble.

Some older males in the
neighborhood might even offer to coach a youth
basketball team because they know how important it is to
keep kids active in the afternoons. With a little
inspiration and the right guidance on how to play the
game, there is a good chance that one or two basketball
players might get interested enough in the game to
pursue it as a professional career.

Some local
libraries have pitched in to help train children in
urban areas to play basketball. They will maintain a
good supply of rules books for basketball and have
plenty of interesting books that kids can read to find
out about basketball teams that are part of the National
Basketball Association. Some of the books might be
autobiographies about basketball players that are
considered to be legends by fans all over the world and
the words inside those books might inspire the children
to take a different path in life.

After some of
these kids learn that they can earn large salaries by
playing basketball they might need extra time during the
day to devote to playing basketball. A parent will be
closer than ever before to a guarantee that their child
is not going to be exposed to any type of trouble or
unsavory characters while active on the basketball
court. With the adult supervision being offered by the
coaches, a parent can relax and take care of things that
they are supposed to take care of.

A parent does
not have to be worried anymore about what their child is
doing when they are not playing basketball. The action
of the game will consume all of their extra energies and
they will not have any strength left to get into any
type of trouble. Some urban kids will work hard to
achieve their goal as a professional basketball player
and will study hard to learn all the techniques that
will help them succeed in life. When they are given the
opportunity to rest on the sidelines, parents can be
assured that resting is all that will be done.

Basketball Lay-up
Fundamentals

The lay-up is the most basic shot in basketball.
Unfortunately, it does not get a lot of attention when
people work on improving their overall game. In a time
now where fundamentals are slowly being forgotten and
replaced with fancy show-boating moves, players need to
remind themselves of the basic techniques of shooting
lay-ups to make themselves better scorers. In this
article we will discuss just a few things associated
with lay-ups that will help improve your overall game.

basketball, shooting, layup, drills, fundamentals

The lay-up is the most basic shot in basketball.
Unfortunately, it does not get a lot of attention when
people work on improving their overall game. In a time
now where fundamentals are slowly being forgotten and
replaced with fancy show-boating moves, players need to
remind themselves of the basic techniques of shooting
lay-ups to make themselves better scorers. In this
article we will discuss just a few things associated
with lay-ups that will help improve your overall game.

<b>When Practicing Lay-ups Take It Serious</b>In
an actual game you will rarely have the opportunity to
lazily run to the basket and shoot an uncontested
lay-up. Most lay-ups are shot while you are fast
breaking with a defender on your hip harassing you all
the way to the basket. If you practice lay-ups
nonchalantly then in a game type situation you are more
likely to miss the lay-up because you might jump off the
wrong foot, or shoot the lay-up too hard because your
timing is off. It's not logical at all for you to make
even the simplest of shots in a game if you are not
practicing the shots the same way you would shoot them
in a game. Make sure you are using correct technique and
that you are moving at game speed when you shoot lay-ups
during your warm-ups.

<b>Be Able To Use Both
Hand</b>You should be able to shoot lay-ups
effectively with both the right and left hand. If you
are driving to the basket on the left hand side of the
floor and shoot a lay-up using your right hand you are
likely to get the shot blocked. Make sure that whatever
side of the basket you are driving towards you use that
hand to shoot the lay-up. This will ensure that your
body will be in between you and your defender and it's
likely that you will draw a foul if your defender tries
to block your shot.

<b>Be Selective</b>If you
try to shoot the same type of lay-up in every situation
you will lack the advantage. It's important that you are
use to shooting different types of lay-ups so that you
will be harder to defend in certain situations. For
example a defender may be over aggressively challenging
every shot you take, as you get to the basket you may
want to head fake and shoot what is referred to as a
power lay-up where you go off two feet and try to draw a
foul or shoot over your defender as you time it perfect.
Or sometimes on a break you would want to actually shoot
a lay-up with the opposite hand of the side of the
basket you are driving towards. Sometimes when you are
pressured to get a shot off you can get the ball to the
basket quicker if you were to use the right hand when
going up on the left hand side of the basket or vice
versa. The bottom line is that you need to have a
selection of lay-ups that you feel comfortable shooting
so that during games you can use every advantage you
possibly can.